


The Sacrifices We Make

by Glandire



Category: Ebon Light (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 20:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13554975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glandire/pseuds/Glandire
Summary: Ernol and Haron are escorting Alenca out of the city, when all of the sudden, everything goes wrong...





	The Sacrifices We Make

"This is making me very uneasy..." Alenca sounded a bit scared. Haron just laughed in response.  
"Worry not Madralee, I won't let you fall down, I promise." A smile on his face suggested, that he really believed that, and was not even a tiny bit concerned by the chasm next to which they had to pass. Ernol however snorted, irritated by his brother's carfreeness.  
"We're not on a field trip Haron..." The older elf was visibly tense and was looking around with apparent uneasiness. They were escorting Alenca out of the city, by Duliae's request.  
"Couldn't you relax at least a bit? I'm trying to cheer up a lady here! And everything is going well so far if you hadn't noticed..." Haron pouted like a kid.  
"Right... And of course, you won't find that suspicious at all." Ernol's answer was practically a growl. He tried not to go further into argument however, since that would certainly not help their situation. Unfortunately, Haron did not share older brother's sentiment.  
"Couldn't you at least try sometime? If not for my sake, then for Madralee's. We are in tough situation as it is already, and there is no need for your fatalism!" Alenca caught Harons sleeve and pulled on it in subtle attempt of calming him down. The only thing that achieved was apologetic look. Alenca sighed silently, and slowed down her walking pace, deciding that Milirose brothers had to sort it on their own. Why not give them a bit of space for it then?  
"At least look at me if you don't intend on answering!" Haron was shouting, trying to catch up.

Suddenly Ernol stopped. Haron did not expect it, barely halting in time to avoid colliding into his back.  
"Look, I know you're worried, but couldn't you at least pretend to..." Haron moved slightly and stopped right in front of his brother, to check out his expression. It usually seemed all frowns and grimaces to other people, but he knew his brother well enough to read between it.  
"Haron, move!" Ernol's voice was slightly panicked. Maybe that's why instead of waiting for younger brother to react, he simply pushed him to the side - as it turned out moment later, away from danger. 

Next few seconds deeply craved into Haron's memory.  
He saw it all clearly in his dreams even years later.

Swishing arrow getting stuck in his brother's shoulder.  
Ernol loosing balance because of shots momentum, moving dangerously close to the edge of the chasm.  
"Haron... Take her and run..."  
A second arrow, in the leg this time, pushing the elf even further back, making him fall.  
A glimpse of Ernol's expression.  
Was he smiling?  
A graze of his brother's hand.  
That was not enough.

Haron felt numb inside. Then his chest started to feel so tight, for a second, he forgot how to breathe.

No.

NO.

"Take her and run..." 

Right. There was no time for...

"Leave me alone!" A fear in Alenca's voice was apparent, even though she tried to hide it. Haron did not think it was possible, but his chest got even tighter. He looked back in the direction of Madralee's voice.  
That's when he finally saw them. Two of them. One with the sword. Another one with the broken in half bow in his hands. 

Did Madralee do that? Was that why the third arrow never came? 

The archer was just lifting struggling woman from the ground, tossing her over his arm.  
Haron's blood boiled. That very elf took enough from him already.  
"Madralee!"

*Please, let me save at least one of them...*  
"I won't let you fall down. I promise"  
He was in the wrong from the very start, wasn't he?

He heard the horses.  
That's when he realized he won't make it.  
They got what they wanted.  
Madralee.  
His Madralee.

He was left all alone.

*

He wanted to go after Madralee. Every nerve of his body was shaking at the thought of leaving her alone in the clutches of his grandfather.  
But he could not shake the image of Ernol's smiling face from his memory.  
He was seeing it again, and again, like a repeating nightmare.  
That idiot, why did he...  
Even though they were practically in the middle of the fight...  
Haron's vision got dangerously blurry and even blinking did not seem to get rid of it.  
It was all his fault wasn't it?  
He got distracted. And he distracted Ernol as well by making him angry. If they were just both focused...

Ah no. He had to focus at least now.

Madralee could be tortured now, prepared for execution.  
But there were still the others. Vadeyn, Duliae... They would figure out something went wrong since they did not show up in the meeting point.  
They could save her.  
Especially since Vadeyn... Ah. He saw it in his eyes for sure. Alenca was important to the scout as well.  
And she still had a bit of time. At least he hoped.  
For sure she had more time than Ernol.  
If Ernol still had any.

Haron closed his eyes. It was still difficult to breathe.  
Could he really assume his brother was... gone?  
And what if he was not? Lying down there somewhere, hurting...  
One thing was certain. If Ernol did survive the fall, without help he would perish for sure.  
But his last request... 

Haron walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. With the bushes on the canyon walls, and sticking out rock formations...  
With enough luck.  
That could happen.  
But would he dare to hope? 

And would he dare to risk it? 

Poor choice meant certain death for both Ernol and Madralee.

But he had to decide. There was no more time to waste.

*

Uncertainty was killing him. Did he do the right thing? Or did he make the biggest mistake of his life?  
Every minute seemed like eternity, every step seemed to be extremely slow, even though he was almost running at this point.

*Please, don't be dead.*

His lungs were burning, but he didn't dare to slow down. Every second counted, of that he was sure.  
Thanks to that it only took him few hours to get, where he wanted.  
And then, he finally had face his fear.

He found Ernol, but the elf looked horrible - like a rag doll tossed in the corner with brutal force.  
And he did not seem to move.

Haron's heart stopped for a moment. Then he fell to his knees next to his older brother, and gently turned him around with heavily shaking hands.

The view was not pleasant. Usually beautiful face was covered with cuts and bruises. What did make Haron feel even worse though, was evident grimace full of pain. But that meant...

He put his ear on Ernol's chest, literally sick from the fear.  
These were the worst seconds of his life.

Silence.

Silence.

And then, faint, quiet beat which meant, there was still at least a bit of hope.

Still, the difficult part was just beginning.  
Haron was deeply regretting not being more interested in medicine. But he intended to do as much as he could - given the circumstances, and limited supplies.

For starters, he had to remove the arrows, even though he was terrified to do so.  
What if he would make it worse?  
What if Ernol would regain consciousness in the middle of it?  
What if it will just cause him unnecessary pain? 

There was also the matter of Ernol's right leg. The arrow was the least of the problems. It looked so badly broken, Haron was afraid it was beyond the point of recovery. But maybe he just had to little faith in the recovering potential of broken body.

*

Haron's fears came to life when Ernol budged slightly, and slowly opened his eyes.  
The amount of pain in his gaze caused sharp sting in younger elf's heart. He just managed to get rid of the arrow in the leg, disinfected the wound, bandaged it tightly, and was in the middle of splinting the broken limb. He had to stop the process though, cause his brother seemed to be disoriented and just a step away from panicking.  
"Ernol? Ernol! Look at me! It's alright, I'm here..." He could not mask distress in his voice, even though he tried very hard. He had to pull himself together though, for the sake of them both.  
It seemed injured elf understood, because he looked directly into Haron's eyes.  
Then Ernol's lips moved slightly, as if he was trying to say something, but in the end the effort produced only a quiet groan.  
"Shhh... It's ok. We can talk later. When you'll get better." The irritated frown, which showed up on Ernol's face for a second, almost made Haron chuckle.  
But he could not yet relax.  
"Okay, bear with me for a second. I think this will be the worst part but..." He touched Ernol's leg cautiously, expecting to hear painful protest, or some kind of movement but nothing happened. Which made him a bit uneasy.  
Did he lose consciousness again?  
He looked back to Ernol's face.  
His brother was still looking at him, even though his gaze seemed to drift away from time to time.  
Then why?  
Did he not feel it?  
Ah. There would be time worry about it later. For now, it meant he could finish with the leg without obstructions.  
Moving on to second arrow, sticking out from the left shoulder.  
Now, that gave powerful reaction out of Ernol. For a second Haron got even completely paralyzed, when he saw tears streaming down his brother's face.  
His composed brother, who was usually hiding his emotions so deeply some people considered him cold, crying in front of him had to really mean he was on the edge.  
And all of that, because of his stupidity.

Will he ever be forgiven?

*

When he was finally done they were both completely exhausted.  
Haron emotionally, and Ernol mostly physically.  
That's when younger elf finally came to a point of breakdown.  
There was nothing more he could do at the moment, so he let himself go. At least for a moment.  
"Ernol... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So very sorry..." He hanged his head in shame, crying violently, repeating his apologies again and again, with a broken voice.  
That's until he felt a weak bump on top of his head.  
He looked up surprised.  
It took a great effort from Ernol to rise his shaking fist and attempt a hit on his brother's head.

*You're an idiot. *

His eyes seemed to say.

*But I would do it for you again.*

*

Now all they needed was time.  
The fire crackled nearby, giving them the needed warmth.  
Haron was sitting with his back glued to the stone wall, Ernol's head rested against his lap.  
"Why didn't you go after her?" Ernol's hoarse voice made Haron jump a little.  
"Vadeyn will take care of her. I'm sure." Ernol snorted. That was certainly a good sign.  
"That did not answer my question... Why would you sacrifice your... Madralee for someone who was with high probability dead?" There was a long silence, before Haron responded.  
"And why would you try to sacrifice your very life for your stupid brother?" Ernol closed his eyes.  
Fair enough.  
They did not have to say it.  
It was enough that they both knew it.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew.  
> Thanks for bearing with me and my english.  
> I want to say huge thank you to Mim and Eri, for helping me out. You guys are the best. Love you!  
> Pretty sure I missed some things to correct, but I will try to do better next time I promise! Sorry. 
> 
> I hope you will guys like it.
> 
> Also. Extra note.  
> After all that Ernol never got his leg to recover fully, but Duliae was more than happy to force him into trying out some fancy canes.


End file.
